?? Microsoft Copilot Personas Maturity Model

Making personas is a crucial step for any project that involves new technology rollout and Microsoft Copilot (As a technology brand contains many 1st party and Custom Copilots) is no different.

A persona is a fictional representation of a typical user of your Microsoft Copilot project. Creating a persona can help you understand the needs, goals, preferences, and behaviors of your target audience. It can also help you design a more personalized and engaging Copilot experience that suits your user’s context and expectations.

In this article I aim to clarify how personas can benefit the Microsoft Copilot rollout project, what are the different levels of maturity from my perspective, where most of the personas I have seen so far stand, and my recommendation for advancing the current level.

?? Benefits of personas for the Microsoft Copilot rollout project

Making personas is very important for your Microsoft Copilot rollout project and you will use them in various phases of your project.

At envisioning phase you will use the personas to understand the needs, goals, preferences, and behaviors of your target audience. In the adoption phase personas help you to design and deliver customized training and adoption strategies for your different types of users, based on their goals, needs, and preferences with Microsoft Copilot. Last but not least, in the value measurement phase personas help you to define and track the key performance indicators (KPIs) that matter most for different types of users, and evaluate how Microsoft Copilot contributes to their business value and outcomes.

Now let’s talk about the Microsoft Copilot personas various maturity levels from my point of view:

?? Definition – Level

This is the base level with a detailed real or hypothetical description of a typical end-user of Microsoft Copilot. Personas usually take the form of a written document with a photo, name, profession, challenges, day in the life description and other important details.

?? Role & Industry Specific Workflows – Level

At this level you should capture your personas roles & industry specific workflows. Each workflow consists of a series of steps or tasks that are performed by different roles to achieve a specific goal or outcome. You will need to identify the role of every persona in the various workflows.

?? Copilot for Microsoft 365 Use Cases – Level

Now at this level you capture use cases of how Copilot for Microsoft 365 can help the personas in different scenarios to enhance their performance and efficiency in each stage of their role and industry specific workflows.

Copilot for Microsoft 365 is a groundbreaking technology that can be used in various ways depending on the user's role and industry. But I think the main thing we have to do with our users is to introduce them to this new conversational user experience (Copilot UX) and once they get used to it the rest will be smooth as they are already familiar with the Microsoft collaboration apps that they have been using since forever.

?Important Note: This is the level where most of the personas I have seen so far stop. Next, I will attempt to describe two more levels of maturity that I think we need to take into account when we create personas for Microsoft Copilot rollout project.

?? Role Specific Copilots Use Cases – Level

From my perspective this is very important level to reach even if you are deploying only Copilot for Microsoft 365 for now. At this level you capture use cases of how the role specific Copilots could add value for your personas on top what Copilot for Microsoft 365 already offers.

Copilot for Microsoft 365 is the foundational layer of the other role specific Copilots (for example, Copilot for Sales & Copilot for Service). As an example, salespeople could benefit from using only Copilot for Microsoft 365, but this could be amplified if you also enabled Copilot for Sales for them, which would bring value that Copilot for Microsoft 365 alone could not provide.

And to support this mindset Microsoft started to include the Copilot for Microsoft 365 (as the foundation layer) in some role specific Copilots (Copilot for Sales & Copilot for Service) licenses.

?? Connected Workplace Use Cases – Level

Microsoft Copilot extensibility and creating your own Copilots are topics that all enterprises are discussing right now, but this perspective I see missing from the personas definition, and I suggest that you consider this early at the beginning of your rollout journey.

At this level you should capture scenarios of how you can use the 1st party Copilots extensibility (Copilot for Microsoft 365 & others) or create your own custom Copilots to enable a truly futuristic connected modern workplace. Guided by a vision to simplify your personas current complex workflows that involve not only Microsoft 365 applications but also other line of business applications to seamless workflows that could be managed using this new Copilot conversational UX using just natural language.

Summary

The advantages of crafting Microsoft Copilot personas are evident throughout the project lifecycle, from envisioning to adoption, offering tailored solutions for various user needs.

The maturity levels outlined here, starting from the foundational Definition Level to the advanced Connected Workplace Use Cases Level, provide a roadmap for the evolution of personas. While many personas currently reside at the Copilot for Microsoft 365 Use Cases Level, the proposed Role-Specific Copilots Use Cases Level and Connected Workplace Use Cases Level signify untapped potential for further personalization and efficiency gains. Embracing these advanced maturity levels ensures that the Copilot experience transcends beyond its foundational capabilities, introducing users to a futuristic connected modern workplace driven by natural language interactions, ultimately streamlining complex workflows across Microsoft 365 and other business applications.

As enterprises navigate the Microsoft Copilot rollout journey, a comprehensive approach to personas development promises a seamless integration of technology and user-centric design, ushering in a new era of productivity and collaboration.

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